Lounge chairs



May 13, 1958 'Filed Sept. 19, 1955 J. HEBERT 2,834,400

LOUNGE CHAIRS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 q 5 g/UL MN #55527 J. HEBERT LOUNGE CHAIRS May 13, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 19, 1955 United States Patent LOUNGE CHAIRS Julien Hebert, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, assignor to Siegmund Werner Ltd., Montreal, Quebec, Canada Application September 19, 1955, Serial No. 535,197

1 Claim. (Cl. 155117) This invention relates to folding contour lounge chairs and particularly to lounge chairs which are light-weight and can be readily moved from one place to another without effort and which can be folded into comparatively small bulk when not in use.

The invention consists essentially in the provision of a folding contour body supporting structure pivoted on a folding leg frame in such a manner that the seat can, with only a slight movement of the body, be moved from a relatively upright position into a reclining position and vice versa. The pivoted body supporting structure is so balanced on the leg frame that the centre of gravity of a person seated on the seat will at all times prevent the seat from falling backwards even in the fully reclined position.

The object of the invention is to provide a lounge chair large enough to give maximum support for the body in either sitting or lounging position but which can be folded into a minimum of space when not in use.

A further object of the invention is to provide a lounge chair of body contour shape which can be readily folded into small bulk but which will give rigid body support in all positions when unfolded.

A further object of the invention is to provide a lounge chair in which a collapsible leg and arm rest frame forms the pivot support for a contoured body supporting structure whose backward lounging position is limited by the leg frame.

A further object of the invention is to provide a collapsible lounging body supporting structure on which a seating fabric can be stretched which will not interfere with the folding of the structure and will give maximum support for the body over its whole length when in the unfolded position.

Referring to the drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the lounge seat frame in infolded position showing in full lines the seat in the upright sitting position and in chain dotted lines the position of the seat for lounging.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the lounge seat shown in Fig. l and showing in chain dot lines the seat fabric supported on the seat frame.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the lounge seat in collapsed position.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. l with the back portion of the seat frame broken off and showing an alternative form of seat support.

Fig. 5 is a side view of the seat support shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a front view of the seat support shown in Fig. 5 looking in the direction of the arrow.

Fig. 7 shows, in detail, the method of supporting on the leg frame the rear end of the seat support of Fig. 4. Fig. 8 is a front view of the support shown in Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a detail view of the leg support of the seat frame shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 10 is a side view of the support shown in Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a detail view of the hinge of the seat frame.

Fig. 12 is an opened view of the hinge shown in Fig. 11.

2,334,4W Patented May 13, 1958 Fig. 13 is a partial view of the arm rest partly broken away to show the attachment of the arm rest to the frame.

The lounge chair hereinafter described is composed of two main parts, the stand or leg structure 1 and the body supporting structure 2 all made from light weight tubular material.

The stand or leg structure 1 is composed of a rear leg member 3 of substantially U shape, with the open upper ends of the U being bent forward at 4 to form the support for the arm rests 5. The front leg member 6 of the structure 1 is also of U shape and has its upper ends hinged to the brackets 7 which in turn are clamped and secured by the rivets 8 to the rear leg member 3 immediately behind the arm rests 5.

In Fig. 1 the body supporting structure 2 is in two substantially U members 10 and 11 which are joined together at their open ends in the hinges 12. The member 10 is formed of the seat portion 10a and the downwardly projected leg supporting portion 10b. The member 11 forms the back rest of the seat 2 and is curved forwardly at 13 to provide a comfortable shoulder and head rest. The hinge 12 joining the members 10 and 11 is so constructed that when the members are in the set-up position the tongue 14 of the member 11 fits into a slot 15 in the member 10 with the two members abutting against each other to prevent further backward movement of the member 11 with respect to the member 10 but allowing the member 11 to be folded forward to rest on the member 10 either when the chair is set up or when the chair has been folded into the position shown in Fig. 3.

The U shape formation of the various members described above ensures that the members will be stable as to width and in the case of the members 3, 6 and 10, the bottom of the U structure give a substantial ground rest. In order to strengthen the seat structure 2 which takes the full weight of the body the member 10 is provided with a cross brace member 16 secured to the under side of the member where it is bent to support under the knees. The member 11 is also provided with a cross brace 17 immediately adjacent the hinges 12. This cross brace 12 is offset backwards to allow for the sag of the seat fabric 18, which at this portion of the chair seat will tend to sag to a greater degree than at the cross brace 16.

The seat fabric 18 is fitted to the body supporting structure 2 in two sections as shown by chain dot lines in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The section 19 is fitted to the member 10 by being wrapped around the side members and sewn and is held taut to the bottom portion of the U by the cord 20. The section 21 of the fabric 18 is fitted to the member 11 'by being wrapped around the side members and sewn and is held taut to the top of the U by being folded over the end of the U and then being brought down at the back and sewn around the cross bar 22. The inner adjacent ends of the two pieces of fabric 19 and 21 are drawn together by means of the cord 23 which in itself forms a relatively wide hinge in line with the hinges 12 and therefore offering no resistance to the hinging of the member 11 relative to the member 10. For indoor use the fabric and cord could be of cotton While for outside use the fabric could be of weather resisting material such as duck or nylon while the cords could be of plastic or plastic covered material or nylon, if desired.

The body supporting structure 2 is pivoted at 24 to pins projecting inwardly from the front legs 6, the pivot 24 being so located that member 1%) of the seat structure will tend to rest on the ground as shown in Fig. 1 and this will continue true if a body were seated in a natural seating posture on the seat. However slight backward pressure of the body on the portion 11 of the seat Will tend to rock the seat about the pivot 24 to bring the seat 3 I into the lounging position shown in chain dot lines in Fig. l. Stops 25 on the rear leg member 3 limit the backward movement of the seat 2.

A chain 26 or hinged bar prevents the openingmout of the leg members 3 and 6 and in the present case 'the chain is shown as being attached to the. leg members 3 and 6 at the pivot 24 and stop 25.

The arm rests can be made of any suitable material and are here shown as being-made of plastic secured to the arm rest support 4 by means of the screw 26. A suitable plug 27 can be fitted into the open end of the supports 4 to prevent the entry of foreign matter into the tubular structure. 7

In the chair shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings the seat structure 2 is pivoted to a cradle structure'30 at 31 while the cradle is pivoted to the front leg member 6 at 32. In order to allow folding of the chair into the same substantial position as shown in Fig. 3, the rear end of the cradle 30 is pivoted to the top end of the pivot arm 33 at 34, the lower end of the arm 33 being pivoted to the rear leg member 3 at 35. The top end of the pivot arm 33 is turned outwardly into a half round shape at 36, to engage with the leg member 3 thereby locking the cradle 30 with the leg supports 3 and 6 and preventing their spreading under the weight supported by the 'chair.

The front member 37 and the rear member 38 of the cradle 30 act as stops for the pivoted bodysupporting structure 2 and these can be so arranged to allow a greater amount of pivoting of the body-supporting structure as the point of pivot 31 is set further back in the structure than is'the pivot 24 shown in Fig. 1.

With a lounge chair constructed as above described maximum comfort can be obtained in any position of the seat structure, with complete support being given for the body from head to feet, while at the same time the chain can be folded down into a minimum space without adding strain to the chair fabric at the point of maximum fold. The chair while being of maximum size to give the desired body support is light in weight and can readily be transported from one position to another when folded as shown and described.

What I claim is:

A lounge chair including a leg structure comprising front and rear U shaped leg members having straight sides of approximately equallength, the ends of the U members being pivotally joined together to provide for relative folding and unfolding movement of the said leg members, means to limit the spread of said leg structure, a unitary body supporting structure including a seat section, a leg section extending downwardly from the front portion of the seat section and a back section extending upwardly from the rear portion of the seat section, the said body supporting structure being pivotally supported on the side members of the front leg structure to afford a horizontal axis about which the body supporting structure may be swung to different operative positions relative to the leg structure in the set-up position of the lounging chair, the pivot of the body structure being disposed at a point on the side members of the front 'U-shaped leg member substantially adjacent the midpoint of the side members of .the'front leg member, the pivot of the said body structure and the pivot of the leg structure being in the same straight line as the axis of the side members of the front leg structure, and means for limiting the swinging movement of the body supporting structure.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED 'STATES PATENTS Drabert Mar. 13, 1956 

